City promises to preserve remaining air raid siren
Photo by Laurie McLaughlin
The siren, situated just south of the of the corner of 9th Street and Orange Avenue is one of the remaining relics from the early days of Beaumont’s Stewart Park.
San Gorgonio Pass Historical Society board member John McLaughlin reached out to the city to encourage staff to preserve the siren as the city begins a nearly $3.4 million overhaul of the park.
McLaughlin explains, “This siren is the remaining one of two air raid sirens that were also used to call out the volunteer firefighters, and sounded at noon each day. Two buttons, one to call out the firefighters and one to sound the noon siren were located at the fire station on Maple Avenue; the other was at the old city hall on Grace and California avenues, which exploded in the early 1970s while being sounded for noon, and damaged police vehicles parked there,” McLaughlin recalls.
After that incident the city resorted to using pagers to summon volunteers.
Community Services Director Elizabeth Gibbs has assured the historical society that it will ensure the siren will be preserved.
